Modelled on Edinburgh in Scotland, Dunedin is one of the best-preserved Victorian and Edwardian cities in the Southern Hemisphere.

Dunedin is a popular tourist destination as well as a desirable place to live, play and study. It offers a world-class quality of education, and is considered a learning environment for people of all ages. Dunedin residents rate their city very highly for quality of life.

Dunedin is the financial hub of Otago and excels in agriculture, engineering, hi-tech manufacturing, information communication (IT) technology, biotechnology, fashion, forestry, tourism, the meat sector and more. The city's most important economic activity centres around tertiary education –New Zealand's first university was established in Dunedin in 1869.

It was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature in 2014.

The city enjoys several successful sister city connections, including with Edinburgh, Scotland; Otaru, Japan; and Shanghai, China.

Dunedin is already home to well-established ethnic communities, with 17 percent of its residents born overseas. Most newcomers have been from the UK/Ireland, although increasing numbers are from Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Dunedin’s size and accessibility, together with a thriving culture of creativity and innovation, makes it a good place to do business. The city enjoys strong business and tertiary links; these connections presents career opportunities for graduating students.

Dunedin has one gigabit per second (1Gbps) broadband services, placing the city on the map as the most connected in the Southern Hemisphere. This supports existing businesses and is successfully attracting new business to the city.

Insiders tip

Dunedin business owners are generally very approachable to discuss career options.